From World of Criminal JusticeFrom October of 1977 until February of 1978, a total of ten young women were abducted and murdered. Many of these young women were also tortured and raped. Their bodies were discovered in the hillsides around the city of Los Angeles, California. The unknown murderer became known as “The Hillside Strangler”.

From The New Encyclopedia of the American WestOutlaw. The conspicuous place Billy the Kid occupies in American folklore almost defies explanation, Even before his death at the hands of Pat Garrett, his name was legendary in New Mexico and had been introduced to a broader audience via the National Police Gazette.

From The Columbia EncyclopediaAmerican crime boss nicknamed "Joe Bananas," b. Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He came to the United States illegally in 1924, settled in Brooklyn, and soon became a bootlegger and mob enforcer.

From Chamber's Biographical DictionaryHe was born in Vermont. An articulate and handsome man, he studied psychology and law. In 1974 he began a series of up to 40 murders in which he habitually raped and beat his victims.

From World of Criminal JusticeAmerican serial killer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 21, 1960. His family moved to Iowa while his father, Lionel, worked on his Ph.D. in chemistry.

Notable Criminals (F - Z)

From World of Criminal JusticeThough Albert Fish was often referred to as the most “deranged” killer in American history, his story remained largely untold primarily because of its horrifying content and the fact that it took place in the 1920s.

From World of Criminal JusticeAmerican mass murderer John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1942. Raised in an Irish Catholic family in a working, middle-class neighborhood, Gacy reportedly had a relatively normal childhood.

From World of Criminal JusticeBorn on August 27, 1906, Edward Gein grew up to become a serial killer. Gein’s story of deviance and murder became the basis for Robert Bloch’s novel, Psycho, which was later adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock.

From World of Criminal JusticeAmerican gangster and criminal Named after his father, John Joseph Gotti was born in the Bronx in New York on October 27, 1940. The son... of a construction worker, he had five brothers.

From World of Criminal JusticeBelle Gunness was one of the most gruesome mass killers in American history. Her handiwork has been compared to that of the notorious French murderer, known as Bluebeard. She systematically murdered her husband and anywhere from 14 to 30 suitors.

From Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and VoicesDubbed the Unabomber after his early choice of targets (un = universities; a = airlines), recluse and former mathematics professor Ted Kaczynski killed three people and injured twenty-three others in a nationwide bombing spree that spanned nearly two decades (1978–1995).

The leader of a bizarre, conspiracy-minded cult that committed several murders, Charles Manson (often known simply as “Charlie”) became a notorious figure in the late 1960s, and the center of a great deal of conspiracy-minded speculation about his true motives.

From The Columbia EncyclopediaPresumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, b. New Orleans. Oswald spent most of his boyhood in Fort Worth, Tex. Later, he attended a Dallas high school, and enlisted (1956) in the Marines and served until 1959.

From World of Criminal JusticeBenjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was born on February 28, 1906, in Brooklyn, New York. His poor Jewish parents lived in a crime-ridden slum known as Hell’s Kitchen—the breeding ground for many criminals of that era.